18 THE KANSAS PEACH. 



earlier it tends to hasten the development of the buds left, thus in- 

 creasing the liability to injury from frost, and if buds have been in- 

 jured before trimming you can then trim to retain as many live buds 

 as possible. 



VII — THINNING. 



This operation is necessary to success, but one that puts the nerve 

 of the inexjjerienced grower to a severe test. This work can be par- 

 tially accomplished by pruning as we have intimated, and some 

 seasons the late frost will do the work even more thoroughly than we 

 may desire. 



It is not unusual in a good season for a four-year-old tree to set 

 800 to 1000 peaches, which if left on the tree would measure two 

 bushels when ripe, and be worth perhaps fifty cents per bushel ; 

 but if all down to 300 were pulled off, these, when ripe, would also 

 measure two bushels, but be worth two dollars or more per bushel ; and 

 while the small peaches could only be shipped at a loss, the larger 

 ones would yield a handsome profit. 



A large per cent, of the edible part of a peach is composed of water ; 

 hence it is the formation of the seed that exhausts the vitality of the 

 tree. The perfecting of the seeds of such an immense number of 

 peaches will frequently exhaust the vitality of the tree, so that it can- 

 not produce another good crop for years, and this is one reason why 

 peach trees allowed to overbear are usually short-lived. Peaches 

 should always be thinned before the seed begins to harden, while you 

 can still run a pin through them without meeting any obstruction 

 from the seed. If any show marks of having been stung, or are in 

 any way faulty, they should be taken off and destroyed. 



We should leave the peaches as equally distributed as possible, 

 from four to six inches apart, all over the tree. The cost of thinning 

 should not be considered, as if they were left on they must be picked 

 when ripe, and it certainly will cost less to take them off while small, 

 to say nothing of the vastly increased value of those that are left to 

 fully develop. 



Remember that overbearing is the "besetting sin" of the peach 

 tree, and that thinning must be done if you would grow the finest 

 fruit. If we were asked to give the approximate number of peaches 

 that should be allowed to mature on a tree, we would say, for a three- 

 year-old tree, about 150; for a four-year-old, 250; for a five-year-old, 

 400 ; but seldom over 600 for a tree of any age. 



VIII — CULTIVATION. 



It is just as reasonable to expect a good crop of cotton or corn [as 

 peaches] without the same care. During the first two or three years 

 some low hoed crop, such as cotton, peas, or melons, may be grown 



